Why are there hell levels still?

[Tewaz]

I'm fine with every hell level except 59. That level is an abomination.

[Ooloo]

Originally Posted by Chortles Snortles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

back in my day sonny we used to walk across the west Karanas to get to school with no sow
(lol)

Actually it would be pretty funny to roll an eq char that you only ever have set to walk and play all the way to level 60 like that, pickup grouping along the way and joining guilds and everything.

[Kohedron]

that's so cute.

Once you get on the cheating train like the rest of the server, those levels are a breeze.

[Ooloo]

They aren't cheating. They lead very lonely and sparse lives. Do not envy them, you should rather study them like a sideshow curiosity.

[Arvan]

Cheating is confirmed

[oldschoolguy]

Originally Posted by cd288 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Actually if IIRC hell levels were a mistake in the coding and development. They later smoothed them out

So all this struggle we have today is because some software engineer back in 1999 couldn't do math? Man that's terrible.

[Tunabros]

Originally Posted by Ooloo [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

They aren't cheating. They lead very lonely and sparse lives. Do not envy them, you should rather study them like a sideshow curiosity.

shut up baler

[TheConsortium]

Originally Posted by oldschoolguy [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

So all this struggle we have today is because some software engineer back in 1999 couldn't do math? Man that's terrible.

[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

https://www.pcgamer.com/breaking-the...ed-everything/

There are two common protocols for communicating on the internet: TCP/IP and UDP. Though complicated, the gist is that the former is slow but stable and will send packets of information with delivery confirmation notices. If a packet goes missing, TCP/IP will send a new one. UDP is much faster but couldn't care less if packets arrived at their destination. "Vince, who is a brilliant programmer, came in and wrote what we ended up calling Reliable UDP," McQuaid says.

It was a protocol that let EverQuest determine when to send reliable or unreliable data. "When you're running around and you're updating the server with your character's location," McQuaid explains, "that was usually sent unreliably because if there was a lost packet it was no big deal. Those packets were being sent out often because everyone is constantly running around. But if it was something like trading an item, we sent that reliably."

"That was a critical piece of technology that most people aren't even aware of," McQuaid says. "And Vince is an unsung hero because he was down there in the trenches working on this network code."

"Back then there was no one with launch experience. We were just making it up as we went along."

Few, if anyone, could reliably play EverQuest that day. Smedley, Sites, and the networking team were left scratching their heads until they finally discovered the source of the problem. "One of our network programmers had done his math wrong and it meant we were using eight times more bandwidth than we thought we were," Smedley laughs.

EverQuest was using a network managed by a local service provider called UUnet, also used by several major San Diego corporations. But demand for EverQuest was so much greater than Verant Interactive had planned for that it was exceeding the physical limits of the internet pipeline into San Diego. As a result, not only could thousands of players not explore Norrath, several massive corporations had their networking operations accidentally sabotaged. "Once you go over the limit, it basically boots everyone off the network," Sites explains.

Days ticked by as Smedley and crew desperately tried to assuage the growing frustrations of their players and negotiate for better internet access, but UUnet would have to physically lay more cable between San Diego and Los Angeles first. That would take weeks. Meanwhile, a rotating team of three parka-wearing employees took eight hour shifts rebooting crashed servers for days on end.

[dk0]

Few things on hell levels:

They were not built to artificially stretch playtime. Even after they were "smoothed out" (i.e. removed), the total exp required to hit max level remained the exact same, and therefore the time investment into leveling stayed the exact same. (You could argue nuances like spending longer in 58 and less in 59 means certain blue-cons will net more exp etc but overall the change was to remain equal.)

I'm not sure the hell levels were a mistake as much as they were just an outcome of the way the algorithm was designed. It's possible (even likely) that the outcome was unintended, but that may be forever debated. Exp calculations per level have a bunch of things that go into them, but one is an overall "level multiplier." The multiplier first jumps to a higher value at level 30, then again at 35, then 40, 45, and you get the idea. I don't remember the specifics of the level calculation here, but each jump in the multiplier created a large spike in required exp for that level, and hell levels were born.

Side note: the amount of exp you lose on death is calculated based on the total required exp of the PREVIOUS level. This is why you lose a shitload of exp when you die at 31, 36, 41, etc. and especially at 60.

Speaking of exp mistakes, though, my recollection is that the 5% bonus exp that halflings get was originally intended for humans. They were supposed to level more quickly to make up for having no innate racial features. Someone put a value in the wrong box and here we are.

Lastly, that PCGamer article linked above is an amazing read for any EQ fans (which I assume is most here). It was written for the 20th anniversary of EQ and dives into how this game came to be. Highly recommend!

[mycoolrausch]

Originally Posted by dk0 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Few things on hell levels:

They were not built to artificially stretch playtime.

Not specifically as such, but they wanted the 10 levels of kunark to last at least as long as the 50 levels of vanilla, so they had to arbitrarily make them all hell levels then add double hell levels on top of that.

There's pros and cons to the massive grinds and timesinks in EQ, but mostly cons. We still play it because mmorpg game designers haven't come up with a good answer to "how do you make lots of engaging content that rewards time and effort without tedious grinds" and hopefully not because we actually think the pinnacle of mmorpg game design was invented in 1999 by a rag tag team of stoned mud players and sony execs and will never be bested.